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YES! This ^^^^^^^^^^ big time.
I go bare foot everywhere at home. I have told the story before of a visitor who came to the door and said that '"there were human footprints in the snow on the drive". I was able to reassure her that this was only because humans lived here.

I like the idea of it but it's not something I do. I'd be too self conscious as part of a group to get anything from it.
i do think there may be something in it if you can strip away (pun intended) your inhibitions and do it properly.
when you have a baby they tell you about how important skin on skin contact is with the baby. The skin is an organ and there are a whole list of benefits of touching naked skin on skin with your baby, and also the baby feeling its own naked skin with its own skin is supposed to be beneficial. I read somewhere else that skin contact with your partner is also good for your health. So maybe opening our skin to contact with the air, water, the earth, trees or whatever might have a lot of potential. I'm sure it doesn't have to be TOTAL nakedness for you to get something from skin contact but maybe the more the better? Until more becomes too much for you to feel comfortable with and then I expect that outweighs the benefits.
i suppose many of us might not go completely naked but find some bare skin useful in ritual. I do like to be bare foot and feel contact with the ground, and feel things against bare hands or even bare arms and legs.

Many thanks for the advice everybody. I have started searching through "the indices of dusty tomes", and have found some interesting titbits already. Just started reading through full tomes which will give further clarification.
I also keep asking the goddess :) And so far the insight I've been given has been astounding.
Many thanks again :)

Both. My religion is Heathenism, and that's the basis of my beliefs.
I do, however, have some beliefs that are not connected to my religion. Like "marmite is a revolting substance fit only for repelling slugs". Oh no - hang on a minute - that's a fact.

For a number of years in the early 2000s I read hundreds of self-help books. Literally hundreds. I trained as a Stress Consultant, and qualified as an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practitioner. I even considered training to be a therapist and councillor. But in truth, looking back now, I was completely missing, or unconsciously ignoring, what I needed to do, and that was to go and see a therapist myself. In the end I did and our year together was a gift that helped me to clear the fugue my mind had entered into. My therapist was trained in Transactional Analysis (TA) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), both amazing ways to help an air head like me to understand what might be going on in this lump of meat in my head. It’s amazing the little tricks our minds can play on us, self-talk suggesting how just sitting down and talking to a stranger could possibly help the way I’m feeling, but that self-sabotage can be paralysing, and make a step towards real change take some time. Even when we plant our backsides on the couch and begin to talk there can be some resistance – I felt that too – but I knew something was not right and, over time, I began to feel the difference. It still amazes me, that the simple act of expressing our feelings out loud, in words, can make such a difference. But it does.
One of the things I noticed in those self-help books was the idea that happiness is the ultimate quest of life. Nearly two decades later and I’m really not sure that’s the case. It seems to me that the human world, and life in general, is a roller coaster ride of emotion, and that maybe having happiness as the bench mark of how our lives are progressing is actually damaging. Just as looking at Instagram feed photos suggest that everything in the lives of those we follow are simply peachy is a huge distortion of the reality of life (including theirs), so the endless search for continued happiness can be exhausting.
Maybe happiness isn’t the aim of life at all. In fact making it the benchmark of the perfect life can make things much worse.
Maybe life is about finding meaning.
Finding meaning can be much more sustainable than the endless search for happiness. Many of us can find meaning in simple things such as watching the sunrise on a new day, or the flight of a gull, the sound of birdsong right now outside my window announcing the arrival of Spring. The smell of decaying leaves in the Autumn, the way that a song or piece of music makes us feel. The company of friends and the connection with our family. So many things can add meaning to our lives. Obviously another is a spiritual practice like meditation or walking the land on pilgrimage. Making the decision to look after your body by making better choices of food and drink. The list is endless. And guess what – a life lived with meaning can open the doors to that illusive happiness so many seek. Not that happiness should necessarily be the goal of finding meaning. If that happens we can find ourselves back at square one once more, feeling unfulfilled and down.
Don’t get me wrong, happiness is great. I love a good laugh, and the feeling that everything is just right, and all is good. The thing I’ve found is that it just doesn’t last. As the great sages say, Shit Happens. Things bring us down, sometimes with a big heavy bump. I’ve heard some people say things like life gets in the way. And this may be another problem. If all of the things that get in the way are seen as life, then all of the things that make us feel good, well, what are they? Isn’t it all just life?
So here’s a thought to end with. What are the things that bring meaning into your life? Let’s talk meaning and purpose and see if those things ultimately bring us more balance, perspective, and in the end, happiness.
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I was on a panel at the recent Pagan Federation Devon and Cornwall conference and said something that a number of people have mentioned to me since, so I thought maybe a blog article on it would be of value.
Over the years I’ve heard some Pagans lament that our Pagan ancestors, particularly the Druids, didn’t write anything down. That it would be a lot easier if we all just had a book, like the Bible, that told us what to believe. I couldn’t disagree more, and this was the focus of what I said on the panel.
A book like the Bible is useful if, as Philip Carr-Gomm has said over the years, you like to be in the restaurant. You can read through the menu (books) and chose your denomination and off you go. The meal has been made for you. Enjoy it. But most Pagans and Druids I know prefer to be in the kitchen, with all of the ingredients, creating something that exactly suits their taste. Neither is better than the other, it’s all personal choice.
So the pattern is reversed for Pagans. With the ‘revealed’ religions the book contains the belief system. Of course people still argue about the meaning, but it’s there. From reading, listening to, going to church, a person following that path may then have experiences that back up those beliefs. The huge benefit I think is that, if a person has some kind of crisis of faith, comfort can often be found within the pages of the book.
But Pagans don’t have a book. We do have myths, poetry, sacred sites, places of power, folklore, but no one book. So when a person’s feet fall for the first time upon a Pagan path, we might read the myths, or take a walk to an ancient sacred site, we might find out if there is a place nearby that has connections to stories of the Fair Folk. If there is, maybe those first few steps might take us there, to that hill with the three trees, or the old Barrow, or the crossroads in the woods.
We actively seek out experience.
We might join a Coven or a Grove, take part in an open ritual, be led on a path of creative visualisation. All of those things give us experiences, direct connection with the Great Big whatever It Is (They Are). So gradually, and it might take a very long time, those experiences shape the way we view the world – from the prayers we might say, to the food we eat, the choices we make, the way we live our lives. So with the revealed religions the belief leads to experiences, with Pagan paths the experiences can lead to beliefs. Which is why people chose the path they follow, and can indeed change that path if the experiences just don’t feel right anymore.
Now, as I said above one of the strengths with having a book is that there is comfort within those pages. When life takes a turn for the worse, or maybe it just gets so busy we feel a disconnect from our path, where does a Pagan turn? If life is so busy that we stop going to our Grove or Coven (or maybe resent the time it is taking up), or stop taking those walks to our favourite sacred space, it might not be long before we begin to question those beliefs. If we are no longer experiencing the magic, how strong is the faith? Will it see us through, or will we walk away?
It’s ironic that, when things get on top of us, when life gets crazy, the first thing many people drop are the things that are good for them. One, being their spiritual growth. “I haven’t got time to meditate/read/walk/maintain my altar/go to Grove meetings, or Coven meetings, or a Moot” etc etc. So we don’t. Then we wonder why we are feeling even more disconnected. Maybe we even question the validity of our path. Was it all just nonsense? It is when life gets in the way that the experiences of Spirit/the Gods whatever you call it/them are so important. That is the very time to start a daily practice (or restart it, if you stopped). Experiences are the Pagan’s book. It takes more effort to seek them out instead of just reaching for, and reading the contents of pages, but it’s not the experiences that have stopped, they are all still there. We just need to show up, and open up again.
So I get up early, and head off into the countryside. Maybe up that hill to the old Iron Age hill fort. You know, the one where it’s said the Faeries dance on Midsummer Eve. It’s not yet dawn and as I walk the birds begin the dawn chorus. They sound so beautiful, as if they are singing just for me. Staff in hand I walk the last few feet, up the ramparts, and look out across the valley below. The sky is turning from red, to orange and blue. The undersides of the occasional cloud begins to shine out, and then the Sun, in all of his glory, breaks the horizon. I raise my wand high to be blessed by the rising sun and sing the Awen. Below in the valley I see a hawk soaring. The Hawk of Dawn, soaring in the clear, pure air. A moment of bliss, of magic, or wonder, of connection.
Some might say that all happened because of my presence, but that sounds a little self-important to me. The truth is that these magical moments happen all the time. The difference today was I got up to be there, I made the effort to witness and experience it.
I turned up.
It was actually the other way around. It was the countryside, the Sun, the clouds, the hawk saying to me, “Ah! There you are! We’ve been here for ages!”
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I have made small offerings in a similar way to Fortuna as a simple expression of gratitude. I have left small gifts in places that seem significant, sometimes the urge to do it is mixed up with wanting help or luck with something but I don't tend to ask anyone particular for something just pour some of how I'm feeling and mixed up thoughts into the leaving of the gift.
sacrifice in the more modern sense of giving something up I do regularly to try help the environment and live in harmony with the earth (that's the main moral in my personal religion) things like being vegetarian, walking instead of getting a lift, making do and mending rather than buying new, the kinds of cleaning products I use, spending money on vats of bird food. No pesticides: Sacrificing my plants to catapillars and snails because my priority is making a space for wildlife in the garden.

Hi Nomis,
My answer above might have read a bit glib. It wasn't. I won't go into details here as I've discussed augury and prediction at length elsewhere.
In my opinion the appearance of your hare and its subsequent disappearance was a random event - well its disappearance was probably caused by you and your dog.
However, the whole event had an impact upon you. That is what is significant. What were your feelings as you saw the hare and again after it had vanished.
In your position I would use the experience as I use runes.
When I select a rune from the bag I do not think that anything is presenting me with the rune. The selection is almost random. "Almost" because it depends how thoroughly I have mixed them since I last used them.
Let us suppose that I draw the vertical line of the rune Is or Isa . The brief meaning without any other context is:
Coldness. Cold relationships. Struggling to no avail. Situation is frozen. Time to mend, maintain and reflect. This rune is irreversible.
What is my reaction to this:
If I laugh and say "The dishes can wait then", it is that reaction that is important. I'm clearly in a good humour and in a positive frame of mind. The rune has tricked my subconscious into becoming visible. If on the other hand my reaction is "Oh no, I'm never going to get that ritual written and out before Samhaine" then I know something different. I know that writing the ritual has become a negative experience or that it is my current actual priority whether I'm attending to it or not. I can read that reaction. I can either tell myself to put the ruddy thing away for today and come back to it fresh tomorrow or I can kick myself up the miasmic arse and buckle down to it. If I react to the idea that the rune is irreversible it may be that I'm feeling that my life is out of my control which of course it isn't.
[The rune is irreversible only in that it is the same either way up - some folk read the orientation up or down as significant - but not apparently, sideways]
In using the runes I'm simply holding up a mirror to my subconscious. I might do the same with your Hare.
On the other hand you may feel that the hare appeared as an omen or sign. You may be wondering if you have an affinity with Hare. In that event there are others who can guide you better than myself.
Obviously I'm not going to leave it there when there is an opinion to be expressed so may I add:
If you must look for an external significance:
Get yourself a journal and start logging experiences like this. Record date, time, day of week, weather, mood as well as the event. Leave lots of space after each one so that you can record anything that you think might be connected with the experience afterwards. After some work you might be able to see patterns in the events in your life. Even here the rational within me says "Please close off any sort of predictive association after a reasonable time". The fact that you found an old horseshoe and nailed it to your door in November is not in my view connected with your lottery win the following July.

It depends on which moon tool system your computer has, some don't seem to have the dark moon period listed and the time must have been adjusted accordingly ;)
I'm another that doesn't hold with blessing the BoS (or the DoS - that's what anti-virus software is for :o_cat2: ) however if I thought myself to be wiccan then i would use the full moon for that. The Dark Moon is a great time for work but not for blessing. In this case then you would need to call the quarters, know your deities, know your personal correspondences so they're right for you so you know what will bless and protect your BoS and what ones won't encourage prying eyes to look through it :D
Or the old drop back sometimes helps when yelled outloud, "Oi, Gods! Look after this will you, ta" :D and wave it at the skies and your work is done - and that's not quite as tongue in cheek as some might think either :D :o_lol: